While rummaging through some of my dad's old tools, I came across a very old flatter. I'm pretty sure it belonged to my grandfather, who passed it down to my dad. I remember using it to drive tent stakes as a Boy Scout.

Anyhoo, in the process of knocking some of the rust off, I found what appears to be an eagle stamped into the top near the handle hole. Does that seem familiar to anyone?

I used google lens to search it and it claims:

"The Outline: The silhouette stamped into the metal clearly depicts an eagle perched with its wings spread out slightly to its sides.

The Manufacturer: This specific eagle stamp is the signature trademark of the Fisher & Norris Eagle Anvil Works (often simply referred to as Fisher), which operated out of Trenton, New Jersey from 1843 until 1979."

I wasn't able to find a good picture of that trademark, but it fits the context. I just can't prove this wasn't an AI hallucination. Most of the Fisher stampings I could find were on anvils and were much more intricate eagles.

Thanks for your research efforts! This eagle likely was much more intricate when new, but a hundred years or so of rust have taken a toll. I'll put a new handle in it, and this old tool will have a new life.

This does not look like a Fisher eagle to my eye. Do you have a photo of the entire tool?

OK, here are a top and a bottom view. I didn't notice it until I saw the bottom photo, but it appears to have a '2' and maybe a '/', like maybe the dimension of the head.

Looks like "2 1/4" to me. Is that the dimension of the face as a square? Have you measured it?

That's definitely not a Fisher eagle, which looks like this:

It looks a lot more like the bird on the Eagle Scout badge:

But (A) I don't know if the BSA ever had branded smithing tools and (B) if they did, I would assume that it would be marked with their classic fleur-de-lis logo, like this old axe:

In sum, while this flatter is probably neither from Fisher or the BSA, it looks to be in good shape (and a good size, if the "2 1/4" does turn out to be the measurement of its face). A little cleanup and a handle, and you will Be Prepared to put it to good use.

On 5/27/2026 at 8:03 PM, Hefty said:

Looks like "2 1/4" to me. Is that the dimension of the face as a square? Have you measured it?

The face is 2 1/2" square, so the missing numerals are the 1/2.

You're right, JHCC, mine doesn't look like the Fisher or BSA. I'll get a handle in it and add it to my menagerie.

Or your aviary, as the case may be.